WEDDINGTON, N.C. — A major development proposed for the heart of Weddington was denied this week, and now the developer behind the project will have to decide what to do next.

The 81-acre Weddington Green development proposal faced a flurry of opposition in recent months as the Weddington Town Council considered the rezoning request.

At recent meetings and public comment sessions, opposition to the project was fierce and at times hostile.

What You Need To Know

Rezoning application for Weddington Green development fails after 3-2 vote

Mayor, who broke tie, said the project was too ambitious for the town

Critics say the development proposal, if approved, would have fundamentally changed the town's character 

At a town council meeting in April, some members of the audience had "Reject Weddington Green rezoning" signs in hand and at times yelled at fellow residents who supported the idea.

Weddington Mayor Craig Horn — who cast the deciding vote against the rezoning, effectively killing the project — said it was unlike anything he had seen in local politics.

“I just became mayor. I’m mayor in training, this was baptism by fire for me. I was pretty, felt pretty beat up about it all,” Horn said at town hall this week after the vote.

Horn, who had to break a council tie on Monday night, said he was prepared to cast the deciding vote for weeks after it became clear his council was split at two votes apiece.

“That didn’t come as a surprise to me, so I was preparing myself for that almost from the very beginning,” Horn said.

The project, which was planned near Providence and Weddington roads, would have brought 158 single-family detached homes, an 8-acre public park and new 117,000-square-foot commercial hub to the center of Weddington. Critics deemed it too extreme a development with many in opposition claiming it would have fundamentally altered the town and why residents decided to live there in the first place.

“A little too ambitious for Weddington. Rather than jumping into the deep end of the pool, I thought we could perhaps scale it back and come to something that would be more in keeping with what we want to do,” Horn said, detailing the reason for his vote.

Despite the development proposal failing, Horn said he remains concerned about what it did to the town and the town’s ability to discuss issues civilly.

“I was very saddened about the hyperbole, the misleading statements and in some cases downright falsehoods that were perpetrated or put out there. And, that’s very sad. I was very sad to see how people talk to each other,” Horn said.

And, with Weddington’s growing popularity, Horn warned this would not be the first or last development proposal to come to town.

“This is not the first, and it certainly won’t be the last. So, as I tell people all the time, buckle your seatbelts, hang on for the ride,” Horn warned.

The project was in development for two years and originally featured many more homes, including townhomes. For example, the original proposal included 306 homes, which were scaled back to the 158 of the final proposal.

Tom Waters, the developer behind the project with Provident Land, said back in April the project had changed many times.

“We’ve probably made 30 changes that were on a typed, seven-page list. The gentleman mentioned the brewery, well we’ve taken all that out. Somebody mentioned the drive-thrus, that’s all been taken out. We didn’t want to laboriously go through that, but the point is: We’re listening to the citizens and some of the town council comments, and we are making some changes where we are able to make them,” Waters said after a particularly tense April 2022 town council meeting, which allowed public comment on the project.

Now, with his development rezoning application denied, Waters said he is not sure what he will do next.

“Considering all of the comments and thoughts that were made by the community, as well as the elected officials, we want to kind of review this location, and see if there’s anything possible that could be brought forth here that would be pleasing to the neighbors and the community,” Waters said at the 81-acre site. 

Waters has worked in development for more than 40 years, specializing in single-family residential homes. He had worked on the Weddington Green plans for two years, and said he was shocked it was voted down.

“My biggest disappointment is not to be able to see the design complete for the town of Weddington. I was so hopeful that we could put in place this park facility and Main Street for the benefit of the town, and certainly that’s very disappointing to me,” Waters added.

It is unclear if Waters will submit another development proposal, or walk away from the property. He declined specifying a timeline or plan for the site when asked earlier this week. The property owners still want to sell the 81 acres, according to Waters and Horn.

“The developer still has his option. The developer could come back with another plan, there’s nothing to prohibit that. The people that own the property still want to sell the property. Someone else might come along with another plan. We’ll see,” Horn said at town hall, while showing the project site.

Meanwhile, critics of the project are celebrating the vote as a victory for the town. 

“The next update will be basically a graphic talking about the victory, how we saved the town,” said former mayor Bill Deter, who runs the Save Weddington Facebook page, which was critical of the project and the process behind it.

“End of the day, got where we needed to be, in my opinion,” Deter said, despite disagreeing with why town leaders personally voted against the project.

Deter, who served as mayor from 2013 to 2017, said changing zoning away from one single-family home per acre is the third rail of Weddington politics.

“I was against the project basically for two simple reasons, it’s high-density housing, and it’s expansion of commercial,” Deter added.

Deter compared choosing to live in a city or town in Union County to ordering in a restaurant, saying the Weddington Green project would have been a major surprise on the menu.

“I ordered this, and in fact I moved to this town, but now you’re giving me something else,” Deter said in his home office. “You move here for a reason, and then they want to change the reason you moved here.” 

Deter’s sentiment was shared by other critics of the project, like Bob Lockerman, one of the residents who spoke at the April 2022 meeting.

“Most everybody, including those that were younger, and we want to make sure everybody’s involved in this, really came into Weddington because it’s unique and it’s different. They felt that if they wanted commercial growth, commercial development and what not, they could drive five, 10 minutes down the road and achieve that. But they wanted to raise their kids in a different place, and that’s what Weddington is, it’s different,” Lockerman said back in April. 

Recent posts on Deter’s Facebook page showed more of those views, saying the project would fundamentally alter Weddington and its character. 

“The hoping was to get people engaged. Most residents are not engaged, or they don’t know what’s going on in their community,” Deter said about why he started posting to the page about the project.

Now, with the site’s unclear future, Deter weighed in on what he would like to see happen.

“I hope they [Provident Land] don’t come back, although they certainly have the right to come back,” Deter said. “They could come back and build 61, 62, 63 homes on there, single family homes. I doubt if Mr. Waters would come back with that plan.”

In the meantime, Deter said he will be keeping an eye on council.

“The page will probably go quiet, until some issue comes up that we feel the residents need to be aware of,” Deter said.